Health center to hold week-long celebration
Free Yoga classes, free health screenings and massages are just some of the offerings community members can take advantage of during Sunset Community Health Center’s tenth celebration of National Health Center Week.
“In August 2016, we had a tremendous response from the community during last year’s five-day celebration,” said Adriana del Rio, outreach and enrollment specialist at SCHC. “We had about 500 attendees. We estimated that approximately 400 people were able to take advantage of our free health screenings which included; glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, height/weight and BMI, hearing test, HIV, dental varnishes-just to mention a few.
Every year the National Association of Community Health Centers celebrates the impact of health centers across the country.
For the week of August 14, SCHC will be holding multiple events filled with educational activities in various health areas. The events will be taking place throughout several areas in Yuma County and are free and open to the public.
“We encourage the community to attend events like our 10th National Health Center Week celebration because people can take advantage of all the free services that are being offered,” del Rio said. “For those families and individuals that do not have a medical home, we encourage them to attend and learn about all the services that Sunset Community Health Center has to offer to the whole family. Sunset provides a comprehensive array of primary care services such as behavioral health, medical, dental, pharmacy, and obstetric/ gynecological services. The emphasis in the provision of primary care services is upon prevention, health maintenance of patients with chronic conditions, tracking, and follow-up of patients referred to specialty or other services.
“In addition, Sunset offers self-management prevention and (an) education
program that builds individuals and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, case management, informal counseling, social support, advocacy, enrollment and eligibility assistance,” del Rio noted. “Join us and take advantage of all of this with the purpose of improving the quality of life.”
According to Lucy Murrieta, community relations,
outreach and eligibility director at SCHC, this year of celebrations is particularly special as Yoga, Tai Chi and Pound will be taught.
Murrieta explained in an email that Pound is an exercise executed with drumsticks that combines movements inspired by Yoga and Pilates. Del Rio added that although SCHC offered Tai Chi and Pound classes at a past health fair, this will be the first time the center will be offering Yoga.
To teach the impact of self-care in health, free massages and facials will be given, Murrieta said
The events will also offer healthy snack giveaways, information on how to read nutrition labels, the opportunity to participate in a hands-on cooking demonstration, sensitivity training toward healthy aging and a series of talks to inform the public about the importance of mental health.
Additionally, certified counselors and navigators will be available to answer questions regarding access to primary and preventative medical care services, women’s health, behavioral health and the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Health screenings to be offered include cholesterol, dental varnish and fluoride application, HIV testing, glucose, body mass index, blood pressure, height and weight and more, Murrieta said.
For more information on the celebrations, call 928373-5724.